Cricket: Motor-mouth McGrath hasn't learned his lesson

Say what you like about Glenn McGrath but he could never be accused of sitting on the fence.

Only weeks after his 5-0 Ashes prediction made him the laughing stock of world cricket, the veteran Aussie paceman has returned to Nostradamus mode, forecasting a clean-sweep in the three one-dayers against a World XI.

The Super Series begins tonight with the opening match at Melbourne's Telstra Stadium, where most attention will be focused on Australia's resilience, and their ability to respond in the face of adversity, not to mention a cluster of recent injuries.

Shaun Tait and Brad Hogg are out and McGrath is still awaiting a fitness clearance on his dodgy elbow, although the condition doesn't seem to have tempered his tongue nor affected his bravado.

"I'm looking forward to the challenge of knocking over the blokes classed as the best in the world," McGrath told the BBC yesterday.

"It's important for us to bounce back now, get a few wins on the board and get back to business as usual."

And stranger even than fiction has been the news that England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has been afforded a hero's welcome in Australia, including a standing ovation from 10,000 fans while carrying the drinks against Victoria.

Rest of the World team-mate Rahul Dravid summed things up when he arrived at a press conference wearing a Freddie Flintoff mask, apparently one of hundreds that were being distributed on street corners by Cricket Australia.

Australian fast bowler Brett Lee told the BBC that it was clear that Flintoff's following had transcended national boundaries.

"He is a bit of a superhero over here. People keep coming up to me saying, 'What's Andrew Flintoff like?' Everybody knows about Andrew Flintoff."